I also like this documentation, very useful
, if not posted already
https://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php?title=CobraPin

and Thomas from Cobra is very helpful as well!

Pain points on both the Fast and Multimorphic board sets are the controllers themselves. Neuron controller is $219 and P3 ROC $190. The node boards are much more affordable and the cost scales appropriately with the complexity of the system. My intuition is that that communications protocol between the controller and the node boards is straight forward. I keep hoping that somebody will analyze one or the other's protocol and write firmware for a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico to act as a controller to sit between MPF and the node boards.

That would be cool, i am not familiar with the raspi pico. So what i read is that its not a normal raspi, so no computer, but a microcontroller. Much like those on the cobrapin o guess?
So much cool stuff out there, would be fun to tinker with that.

Rasperri pi pico is microcontroller, dirt cheap and with about as much computer power as an original Apple II. While it can't run MPF, if could work as a pinball machine controller. It's probably what cobra pin would use if cobra pin were designed from scratch in the 2020's. Many (maybe now most) makers have gotten away from arduino microcontrollers because of the higher cost and the vastly improved capabilities of the RPI-pico.

I am using a lot of teensy microcontollers, they are awesome in every way but cost at least 20 euros nowadays and the newer versions even more.

Hey MrBigg I am still going but was slightly side tracked but your podcast helped re-direct me. I had the trigger fingers designed for modern stern roll over switches but needed to change the design to suit the pinball life switches which I just got in the last few days for a project. I have done the right side and will have the left side designed soon. sorry for the delay.

Jady

Stern Roll Over
Trigger Finger 1 (resized).png

Pinball Life Roll Over
trigger finger PL (resized).png

I have finished the lhs and rhs brackets as it is better to have the additional switch on the downside of the playfield. Red is LEFT - has a L on it and Blue is RIGHT - has a R on it

will be in touch soon MrBigg

you will need a DB3 microswitch like below with the same lever (which you will need to move the lever to the inner pivot pin) - I am sure you will find a US supplier for these
https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/micro-switches/0517567?cm_mmc=AU-PPC-DS3A-_-google-_-DSA_AU_EN_Switches_Index-_-Micro+Switches%7C+Products-_-DYNAMIC+SEARCH+ADS&matchtype=&dsa-1701834600473&gclid=CjwKCAjwue6hBhBVEiwA9YTx8KLZYVM8bTSFP2fO9A9ljyxAjRkWre7-TP6slBI6mEcBF_-P_5hD0xoCx-AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

and then these trigger Finger brackets work with the Pinball Life Roll Over Switches and brackets, like below
https://www.pinballlife.com/switches-9901.html

and I also have another set of bracket that work with the New Stern Roll Over Switches and brackets

Pinball Life uses a DB5 microswitch and New Stern use a DB3 microswitch but both use the same lever and wire.

PL Trigger Fingers (resized).png

Turns out all 6 outlane switches I bought from Marco were bad, and are causing mayhem in my switch matrix. I'll be ordering 6 new switches for my outlanes in the next day or so. Thanks for keeping me in mind, I look forward to the files, and thank you. Hope you enjoyed my rambling, and 27 minutes of BS lol

here is the link to 4 x different Trigger Fingers:
https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?q=swinkstriggerfinger&sort=newest

log in and there is a download button

as for the switches for the roll overs I designed for the Modern Sterns and the Pinball Life switches.

podcast was good but I felt it should of introduced the game name, and location of where to find info as took half the episode and once you spoke of the colours I knew the game.

let me know if you need any help with the trigger fingers

Thank you, and I appreciate the advice. Thanks for the files, I appreciate that also.
Sorry about the podcast, I just followed his lead. I should have introduced my game when I said who I was, and where I was from. I was a bit nervous honestly at first, and got sidetracked.

it was a good listen and enjoyed, don't worry I would be nervous as well and feel I could only offer 2 minutes of good stuff and rest crap....

let me know how you go with the trigger fingers

Love that podcast. So much yet to cover.

It was an excellent interview, and although I liked the color prior, I’m glad you explained it, it just made understanding it even better.

Thank you both very much, and I was just hoping to encourage more guys like myself to just try it. Get in there and make mistakes. Do a build, screw it up, have fun, and dream the dream. Life is short, build the pin!

My latest screw up is special lighting. Turns out I soldered every one backwards, and apparently bally style boards solder all the positive together, and trigger off the ground side. Ugh, I have a lot of resoldering in my future. Live and learn.
6 bad switches from marco got me too. All my outlanes are staying N/C in both positions, and triggering all kinds of bugs.

I'll be in there, I want it right, and I don't have any quit in me. I can do a row, or area over a few days, and should be back in business in less than a week or so.

Ordered switches today, so those should be here in a few days as well.

Yes sir, yes it is. But if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

Aoutch, take a break ! Good luck for the work, it's always horrible to do some task twice.
The crazy thing i'm still amazed in these projects, it's the time we need.
Every step takes hours... It's crazy !
I just prepare some electric wires for the Cobra, and.. 3 hours later i am still on it !
Maybe trained builder are going faster but for me it's astonishing the time it take me to do simples things !

Not have anything to do with the soldering problem, i'mcurrently working on the lights, and I have done a quick visual of my playfield with all the numbers for my lights.
Now I can quickly have a look at it when i'm working with MPF shows.
It's just here as an idea.
numéros_lumières_flipper_cthulhu (resized).jpg

great idea to track lights and positions and then then is even more in the backbox, coin door, start button and possible flippers - starts to add up

are the outer circles around the inserts the globe colour or future insert colour?

love some of the unique features of your game - right out lane to shooter lane flip flop...

Found your thread - game looks great.. well done

The outer color circles represent the "color" of my missions, these are the 5 main missions in the game.
Each one change the playfield atmosphere.
It's mostly a help for me and my friend doing artwork.
But I want something very easy to "understand". Everything is red, i'm fighting monster 1, everything is blue, i'm fighting monster 2.. etc.

wow! beautiful work!!!!

are those 3D printed mounts for the backbox power supplies and boards? if so, willing to share the files? looks awesome!

I think so too, had a bookmark to the latest, that doesn't work anymore.

This is due to a change I made a few weeks ago for the MPF docs URL structure.

Previously the site had multiple versions of the docs, which is cool in theory but was confusing in practice. (e.g. for a given page, there was docs.missionpinball.org/0.55/tutorial, docs.missionpinball.org/0.54/tutorial, docs.missionpinball.org/latest/tutorial, docs.missionpinball.org/stable/tutorial, etc.

MPF isn't really actively developed these days. (Still lots of users, but no one taking the lead for new features, which is probably ok since it's mature and probably has everything everyone needs, but if anyone wants to take the lead let me know!) So the various version-specific pages just confused everyone since people would end up on the wrong pages, no one realized that the pages had versions, someone would fix a typo maybe in the /0.55 version which would reappear in the /latest version, etc. And really the docs for the different "versions" were 99.9% the same anyway.

So I just removed the version-based URLs and now there's just a single version of the docs, which is great, but it changes the URLs. (For people using older versions of MPF, they can download the HTML docs, PDF versions, ePub, etc. for their specific versions.)

I never had a pinball machine, i'm building it and discovering every step and parts (and it's super nice to discover the pinball world that way !)
Honnestly I did not understood everything reading the english page.
But a french guy on our pincab forum (Coolfire) took some time to explained it veryyyyy sloooooowly.

I'm not sure to really understand the way it works, for me it looks like magic, but it's ok in MPF !
I have done all the "lines" wiring, need to do the "columns".
I did some test with a "wire column" on every switch.

Thank's everyone for your help !

For anyone not following our thread, just sharing!
So pleased to share our podcast with Dan Rosenstein who interviewed me, Cam and Lucas on behalf of TPN network. Thanks to Dan for all he is doing to connect and ignite the homebrew community! This was a really memorable chapter of our journey!
———————-
Episode 5 is live!! Episode 5: A Family Affair
We made it to episode 5! Join me as I talk to Mike, an amazing dad and his 2 awesome sons about their overwatch pinball machine!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0IquWTPcdkTaYjRAThhCc1?si=5HJrs0IQSfijRqaiUSaOGg

7FAE88DC-BA7E-4459-A2F8-5B269C5B841C (resized).jpeg

F0341C21-A08F-488B-887D-A6203492E7A6 (resized).jpeg

I use a really nice label maker made by Brady, the M210 it's specifically designed for labeling wiring, and has option for heat shrink labels, or sticky wrap around type. The don't rub off, or peel off. It's a really solid system I've used for about 15 years now.

You can get zip ties with a flat plastic label on them - they aren’t much more than just standard zips and then you can sharpie label on the flat piece. Or you could stick your label to that.. just throwing it out as another option that won’t come off a bundle of wires- I personally love them and have used them a ton. Come in lots of colors too if that’s your thing — https://www.amazon.com/Nice-purchase-Self-Locking-Plastic-Multicolor/dp/B07FKPC596/ref=asc_df_B07FKPC596/

If you want really small labels and dont mind keeping track of them on a spreadsheet, these work good. They come in numbers and letters: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Wire-Marker-Book-1-48-56250/302602982

Has anyone put a "coin machine" in is pinball, working with a cobrapin ?
I don't have one yet, but I want to know if it's possible.
Do you know how it works ? Just like a switch or something like that ?

Thank's for your help !

do you mean, that the machine is not freeplay and you have to put in a coin to play?
usually when you have a coindoor, there is a part on there that can be adjusted for the right coin. when you drop in a coin, it rolls over a switch. So it is just an activated switch, that needs to be handled in mpf.

https://docs.missionpinball.org/game_logic/credits/index.html

I've read the MPF part but I was talking about the "coindoor".
I don't want to use real money, I just want to use some "false coin".
I think you answered me, so it's just like a switch. I'll see what coin machine will fit in my door.

I think I just understand something : some of the coin door are mechanical, and other are electrical.
I don't understand the benefit of putting an electrical one...

yes or you could just use a button for the "coin".
but a coindoor looks just awesome, mine does nothing really. i just have it as an opening to access the computer and the soundvolume control.

It's just to have the pleasure to add some "coin" in the pinball, re-creating the arcade ambiance from my childhood

programmable mechs allow up to 6 different coin types to be detected, which is helpful in places with more than one common currency or where there is need to support more than a couple of coin types, as a typically coin door is limited to two or three. At the end of the day, it works the same, 'closing a switch', just that has it has up to 6 outputs, one for each supported coin type. Code needs to know which coin slot was used and what the value of that coin is to properly handle currency/pricing.

So I have an EM (Triple Action) that I'm am interested in modding with a Cobrapin to add modes, light shows, etc. I think it would be a fun project while also being good practice for eventually doing a full homebrew. My first problem is this game uses AC power for all the coils. I'll be gutting all the relay/switch logic but I'd like to keep all the playfield mechs, if possible, so I'm interested in figuring out what the process would be for changing to DC. Would I need new coils? Can I keep what's in there and just use a way shorter pulse timing to keep from frying things? Anybody have experience doing something like this?

So since a coil doesn't care about type voltage, although DC at the same voltage will kick much harder. You need to drop it down a bit, add diodes respectively in the ckt. If you decide to do any coils that hold for any length of time, especially on old EMs, the old switch contacts burn up much faster if they aren't tungsten.
You'll need good rectifiers, and wouldn't hurt to get higher voltage versions due to initial hit of the dc draw.
Do you know the coil voltage on that particular EM?
So as sol8d state games came into existence, they all swapped to DC voltage for mechs. You might be better off to just find a dead SS game, rather than spend a ton of time and money swapping everything over in you game.
There are several threads on pinide about Ac to Dc swaps, but it's basically what I mentioned above.

I saw 24V on the label on the transformer in the game, haven't used a DMM to confirm anything. Is all of what you said true if I'm gutting everything except the coils? I.E. new wiring, etc. Really I'm just interested in how I can use the same primary mechs (flippers, drop targets, etc). I'd even consider putting new coils in the mechs, if necessary. Would just wiring up the current coils direct to the Cobrapin and using a very short pulse time alone be enough?

Well seeing how I en in the electrical, and electronics field for 37 plus years, I feel pretty safe about it, plus seeing as you have the internet, it's an easy Google for coils, and voltages if you are still in doubt.
I'm not familiar with cobrapin, but if you are using dc, you will still probably need to install diodes across each coil to prevent a burn, and be sure to put in line fuses, or trip relays, just in case you make some mistakes along the way. These are your friend to prevent long pulses, or over current on your coils.

I gutted all the mechs from a bally space invaders for my homebrew, but that was already all converted to dc with built in diodes. There really isn't any magic involved here as a coil is just a bunch of wires wrapped around a plastic tube. Wire has no way of knowing ac from dc, just like a filament in a bulb will run on either. It's just a wire with no discernment.
The key is how quickly, and hard it hits initially.

Try ff0000 for red and 000000 for off

I converted a 24VAC EM to P3ROC. I used a 24VDC linear power supply. Plenty snappy! Although it didn't like some of the more modern mechs I added, so I upgraded to 48V. Kept the same coils, you just dial them back in the config files